Sled



June 19, 1923. I 1,459,528

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SIDNEY s. GRIFFIN, or SEATTLE-WASHINGTON; ASSIGNOR .TO- cuRTis. co'AsTEaTOY 00., or SEATTLE, wAs-Hane-Tom 1 SLED.

Application filed February" 16, 1920, Serial No. 359,134. RenewedDecember 1, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY S. GRIFFIN, a. citizen of the" United States,and resident of the city of Seattle, county of King, and State of\Vashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sleds,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in sleds and more particularly tosleds of that type commonly used for'coasting; the principal objects ofthe invention being, first, to provide a durable and substantialsteerablesled, second, to provide runners com-,

prising features of construction whereby they are rigidly braced andstrengthened, and third, to provide means for controlling the frontrunners so that the sled may be guided by either the feet or hands ofthe rider.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention I haveprovided improved details of construction, the preferred forms of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a sled constructed according to thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is an under side, perspective view of the same, particularlyillustrating the mechanism whereby the front runners are steered.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the sled.

Figure 4 is an enlarged, sectional detail, illustrating the character,and manner of mounting the steering pin.

Referring more in detail to the drawings: 1 designates the top of asled, embodying the present invention, which may be of any desirablelength and width, and which, near its opposite ends, has cross plates 2and 3 secured thereto to strengthen and stiffen the same at the pointswhere the sled runners are attached.

Secured to the forward and rearward ends of the top, in trackingalinement, are the forward and rearward runners, 4 and 5, respectively,each of which consists of a single strip of metal bent to form an upperhorizontal bar 6, a downwardly curved forward portion 7, and anelongated base or runner portion, 8, which extends parallel with the bar6. These are strengthened by brace members consisting of bars which arebent, each to form two vertical legs 9, a horizontal bar 10, whichconnects the upper ends of the legs and'whichis'secured to therunner bar6 Each of the legs has an inturned foot 11 which isrivetedor otherwisesecured to'the runner bar 8.

The runners at the rear of the sled are each secured to the top by twobolts 12 which are extended downwardly through the top 1 and plate 3 andthrough the upper bars 6 of the runners and bars 10 of the braces and attheir ends have nuts 14 threaded thereon which are drawn tight to holdthe runners perfectly rigid.

Cross bars 15 are extended between the vertical braces 9 of the rearrunners to strengthen the same against lateral strain and add rigidityto the construction.

The runners of the front set are of sub stantially the same constructionas those of the rear set, but are each secured to the top by a singlebolt 18 so that they may be swung pivotally to steer the sled. Theserunners are held in parallel alinement by meansof two cross bars 19 and19, each of which has a loop 20 at its center which extends in avertical plane and at its opposite ends has loops 21, which lie in ahorizontal plane and extend through apertures 22 in the vertical bracemembers 9.

The steering mechanism consists of a transversely disposed cross bar 25,provided with a square aperture at its center whereby it is mounted upona squared portion 26 of a pivot pin 27 which is revolubly mounted inbearings 28 and 29 secured to the upper and lower faces of the top,centrally at its forward end. A cross bar 30 is secured to the lower endof the pin-27, which has its opposite ends projectingrfslidably throughthe loops 20 of the cross rods 19 and 19. With this constructionmovement of the cross bar 25 rotates the pin 27 and the latter moves thelower cross bar 30. The ends of the latter bar move in the loops 20 toshift the cross bars 19,19, and the latter being pivotally fixed to therunners 4 move them in accordance with the movement of the bar to steerthe course of the sled.

The bar 25 is locked in position by means of a nut 35, threaded onto theupper end of the pin, and at its outer ends the bar has depending footrests 36,whereupon a rider may place his feet to steer the runners. Byremoving the nut 35, the steering bar may I vided, the runners arebraced against lateral strain, and by movement oi the'c ross' bar25, thefront runners will be accordingly actuated to guide the sled.

WVhat I claim as new is:

In a sled of the character described, a sled body, a truck comprising apair of parallelrunners, each runner comprising a top and bottom railand tWo vertical, apertured brace members, means pivotally attaching therunners to the body at transverse points steering pin rotatably mountedand extended vertically through the body, a cross bar fixed at the lowerend of said pin having its ends extended slidably through said centralloops ofthe connecting rods and a steering bar fixed on the upper end ofthe pin and transversely overlying the sled body.

Signed at Seattle, King County, VVashington, this 5th day of February,1920.

SIDNEY s cRiFFiN.

